Business

Even homeowners with record-low mortgage rates now face staggering increases in overlooked fees like insurance, property taxes, and HOA costs, making homeownership less affordable despite cheaper monthly loan payments.

Chinese AI stocks surged Wednesday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called OpenClaw the 'next ChatGPT.' MiniMax and Zhipu jumped 22% and 14%, respectively, as investors bet on domestic AI innovation amid global competition.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs, sold as a lifeline for American factories, have instead triggered job losses and rising costs for manufacturers like Allen Engineering in Arkansas. Data shows 98,000 manufacturing jobs vanished in Trump’s first year back, while companies sue for $130B in refunds.

Indian crypto investor Vignesh Sundaresan spent $69.3 million on Beeple’s 'Everydays: The First 5000 Days' in 2021—then watched the NFT market collapse. Five years later, he reflects on the purchase, the fallout, and why he still sees value in digital art as his new Singapore gallery opens.

The Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark interest rate at 3.5%-3.75% on Wednesday, defying market hopes for imminent cuts amid persistent inflation and geopolitical turmoil. U.S. stocks ended sharply lower, with the Dow dropping below its 200-day moving average for the first time since mid-2025.

Japan's exports grew 4.2% in February, beating forecasts, but shipments to China and the U.S. fell sharply. Semiconductor exports jumped 25.1%, while auto exports to the U.S. dropped 14.8% amid trade tensions.

Bank of America will pay an undisclosed settlement to resolve a lawsuit alleging it ignored $170M in suspicious Epstein-linked transactions. The case, filed on behalf of a victim, exposes systemic financial blind spots in sex trafficking operations.

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed amid US-Iran conflict, disrupting 20% of global oil trade and sending crude prices surging. World leaders face mounting political threats as energy crises collide with election cycles, threatening leadership stability worldwide.

Lululemon’s fiscal 2025 revenue rose 5% to $11.1B, but North American sales fell 1% as international revenue jumped 22%. Net income per share dropped to $13.26 from $14.64 amid margin pressures and 18% inventory growth.

Lululemon’s weak 2026 forecast reflects its first sales decline in years, driven by tariff hikes, a proxy battle with founder Chip Wilson, and a pivot away from discounts. The Vancouver-based retailer also faces rising costs and tepid U.S. demand.

The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran has derailed the Federal Reserve’s plan for 2024 interest rate cuts, pushing relief for homebuyers and automakers further into the future. With oil prices surging and inflation pressures mounting, the Fed’s policymaking committee faces a critical dilem

The national average diesel price hit $5.04 per gallon Tuesday, up from $3.65 a month ago. Analysts warn the surge—driven by geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz—will inflate food, shipping, and construction costs, squeezing household budgets.

U.S. gas prices surged to a national average of $3.84 per gallon in March 2026, hitting a three-year high despite America being the world's top oil producer. Analysts attribute the spike to geopolitical tensions, refining bottlenecks, and global supply constraints.

Microsoft appoints Jacob Andreou to lead unified Copilot strategy as Mustafa Suleyman shifts focus to AI model development. The reorganization aims to merge fragmented consumer and commercial AI efforts into a cohesive system under CEO Satya Nadella.

In 2019, Canadian brothers Rémy and Jean-Marc Jacobson launched RealT, a crypto-based platform that let global investors buy tiny shares in Detroit homes for $50 each. By 2023, their empire had ballooned to 500+ properties—but tenants now describe rodent-infested houses, missing heat, and broken pro

The S&P 500 rose 0.25% to 6,716.09 as tech stocks surged amid easing oil prices. The Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday is in focus as inflation risks mount, with core PCE at 3.1%. Trade Desk fell 7% after Publicis Groupe withdrew support, while energy stocks hit new highs amid geopolitica

The Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its benchmark interest rate to 4.1% on Tuesday, a 25-basis-point increase to the highest level since April 2025. The decision was driven by stubborn inflation above the central bank's 3% upper limit and escalating geopolitical risks from the Iran conflict.

A federal antitrust trial against Live Nation-Ticketmaster resumed Monday as a coalition of states, not the DOJ, led the case after the government settled last week. Jurors returned to a courtroom where testimony about Live Nation’s ‘velvet hammer’ tactics against rivals took center stage.

Asia-Pacific markets ended mixed Wednesday as Nvidia’s AI chip demand surged and oil prices fell, lifting Wall Street overnight. Samsung Electronics and TSMC led gains, while China’s CSI 300 lagged amid geopolitical and inflation concerns.

David Zaslav will receive at least $550 million in compensation as Paramount Skydance finalizes its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal, expected to close in Q3 2026, includes cash severance, equity stakes, and potential tax reimbursements for Zaslav and other top executives

Nvidia has launched NemoClaw, an enterprise-grade AI agent platform built on OpenClaw, during its GTC keynote. The open-source tool aims to provide businesses with secure, local deployment of AI agents across any hardware, addressing critical security and control needs.

BMW prematurely leaked the new i3 Neue Klasse EV online just days before its March 18 debut. The sleek sedan, set for 2026 production, features a 17.9" touchscreen, 500-mile range, and direct Tesla Model 3 competition.

NVIDIA has launched the Nemotron Coalition, uniting eight global AI innovators to collaboratively develop open, frontier-level models using shared data and compute. The coalition’s first project will produce a base model for NVIDIA’s upcoming Nemotron 4 family, slated for open-source release.

NVIDIA launched the Vera CPU, the world's first processor purpose-built for agentic AI and reinforcement learning. It delivers twice the efficiency and 50% faster performance than traditional CPUs. Major cloud providers and infrastructure firms are already adopting it.